Morrissey takes aim at Jimmy Kimmel over gun gag

Morrissey has fired back at Jimmy Kimmel for mocking him on TV for pulling out of a performance on his late-night show, accusing the host of making fun of gun control, depression and obesity.

The former The Smiths star, a fervent anti-meat activist, pulled the plug on Tuesday’s scheduled appearance on the show after learning Kimmel’s fellow guests would be the stars of duck hunting reality show Duck Dynasty.

However, Morrissey was not amused, and he has now taken aim at Kimmel, insisting his attempt at humour was insensitive.

The rocker has issued a statement which reads: “I was disappointed with last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Show wherein our smiling host managed to ridicule depression (70 percent of Americans have experienced depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health). He then found time to ridicule healthy eating (the obesity epidemic in the U.S. costs $147 billion per year in medical expenditure), and he also ridiculed the notion that animals should be entitled to the possession of their own lives.

“Furthermore, he found time to jokingly promote gun-ownership – hugely amusing for the parents at Sandy Hook, no doubt. He also promoted his special guests Duck Dynasty, who kill beings for fun. None of the above issues are, of course, as important as Jimmy Kimmel himself, who has finally revealed his show to have an overwhelming loss of meaning. Tune in and relive the intellectual fog of the 1950s.”

Kimmel then replied, “Note to Morrissey – if you have more dumb statements to make, I invite you to make them where I do, on my show… This has nothing to do with people who eat meat versus people who don’t. I’m completely respectful of people who do not eat meat, but the statement he made is ridiculous. I’d like to invite him to join the show to discuss. I’m an open, even-handed person, and I consider all points of view.”